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Last month Kendra + I hosted our third (yes third!!) Sweet Happenings gathering. I was honestly humbled by the overall response + incredibly excited to welcome an entire room of new faces with unique perspectives. Our Spring gathering was inspired by Hygge, the Danish ritual of enjoying life’s simple pleasures – A ritual I was quite fond of whilst living in Scandinavia and a wonderful reminder to acknowledge ordinary, meaningful moments in the every day.

We gathered in the beautiful space of Aviary Studio + mingled over deliciously crafted cocktails by Whiskey Muse. Reece prepared a gin, cucumber and rosemary cocktail along with a Whiskey, Orange + Vanilla syrup cocktail with subtle hints of ginger and chocolate. All of it – so good.

As always, my favourite part of these events are listening to creatives talk about what they love. Their stories. The kind of stuff that gets them out of bed in the morning. As the conversation flowed through the room, I could’t help but smile. Here we had a room full of creatives all in attendance for the same reason – community. But their paths and perspectives so different yet the energy + connections that came about were truly inspiring.

An extra big thanks to all of our wonderful sponsors and to Andrea + Stella of Aviary Studio for allowing us to host in their beautiful space! We’re excited to see where our gatherings will lead. To find out more about the event and attend one in the future, head over to the Sweet Happenings site.

It’s mid-February – I realize I’m a tad late on this! January is usually a quieter month, but this year was quite the exception. I moved into a new place shortly after traveling what seemed the entire month of December.

I’m truly looking forward to a more relaxed few months ahead filled with loads of writing + posting here. There are a few travel posts coming your way, but before that, here’s what 2015 looked like and what I hope 2016 to be!

Highlights of the year (in no particular order):
+ My photograph published in National Geographic
+ Visiting friends on the East Coast
+ Trip home in the summer to my beautiful cousin’s wedding where I also introduced James to family and friends (and they loved him!!! of course ;)
+ Teaching my first design workshop to aspiring designers
+ My little sister making the trip to Vancouver. Twice this year !!
+ Running the Berlin Marathon with a new PB of 4:02
+ Exploring Italy and Spain with B
+ Hosting our second sweet happenings
+ Turning thirty; feeling more and more comfortable with who I am and what I want
+ Ending the year with most the wonderful Christmas trip to England. With us both being so far away from our families it meant a lot to finally meet the people you hear so much about. It was perfect in every way.

Here are a few intentions I have for the year ahead:

+ Continue with running. Another marathon, anyone?
+ Research in human-centered design
+ Spend more time writing here
+ Reading more for fun. Maybe even start a book club.. Interested ?
+ Enjoying more of the everyday
+ More time with my favourite people. Above everything else:)

I love Florence dearly; I spent the summer of 2007 (my first time ever abroad!!) studying Fashion Illustration there. I’d like to think this special place instilled my love for travel + culture.

Because I would be in Europe for the Berlin marathon it only made sense to end the trip somewhere warm that could offer a relaxed, easy environment to unwind a bit. Alice + Luca, my dear friends in Sardinia, invited us to spend a few days exploring the island. We were greeted with the most incredible meal. Complete with vino, espresso and limoncello. It normally doesn’t rain in Sardinia, but alas, there was a Mediterranean cyclone warning the 3 days we were there. ha! But we made the best of it. We spent a good chunk of time around the dinner table eating, drinking, and discussing design; climate change; personal passion projects; our time in Vancouver together; and how different politics are in Italy compared to the US.

The days spent with Alice + Luca were short, but so full of the kind of inspiration + love that leaves your heart feeling so warm. Lucky for me, I believe my working days with Alice are just beginning;)

After Sardinia, We headed to Florence to meet with friends from Germany + Austria. 4 ladies. A whole lot of wine. No agenda. You better believe we had a good laugh. We may have sang “Last Christmas” in an Italian karaoke bar at the beginning of October. And made best friends with the cheese guy at the deli down the street from our Airbnb.

We spent our afternoons gallivanting around. Often stopping for wine, olives and pastries. When in Italy, one must eat! Heaps.

What’s your favourite city in Italy? I still haven’t been to Venice; Saving that for my sweets;)

heyyyy guys! How’s your summer going!? It feels a little strange to be writing in this space after so long, but I’m hoping this means I’ll be making more time for this corner of the internet again! I’ve missed it. There’s been quite a bit going on behind the scenes. My 9-5 has left me experimenting with various avenues of design. And to be honest, by the time I leave the office, I have no desire to be in front of the computer. With that being said, I’m enjoying the process of figuring all of it out. More on that soon;)

But for now, here are a few snippets of what’s making me smile as of lately:

Happy Friday everyone!!! I wanted to share a very happy moment with all of you:) You may remember me briefly talking about National Geographic asking to publish a photo of mine in their “Abroad at Home” book – Well, it’s now available at your local bookstore!!

Growing up I remember my Nana + Bompa bringing piles of old National Geographic magazines to the house. I’d spend hours reading + completely in awe of the gorgeous photographs. If only I could traverse the Sahara Desert and indulge in the most satisfying croissants overlooking the Eiffel Tower. I’d then chop the magazine up and create what would be my dream life. So you can imagine how eager + excited I was to say yes when this publication reached out to me;)

This has definitely inspired me to share more around here – I absolutely love finding, creating, and sharing the beauty I find in the everyday, so expect to see more from this gal in the upcoming months.

Ps: find the time to do what you love. I know it’s such an annoying cliché to constantly hear, but if you truly love doing something, do it! It’s so underrated. Find your passion, success will follow. Truly believe it.

With that, I’m out for the weekend! Only some spring cleaning + a photoshoot before I’m off to the East Coast next week!! Have the most wonderful weekend!!

I’ve been struggling with where I want to see this space go and as i’d like to stay 100% transparent, I have absolutely no clue where that may be!! I’ve had the urge to go back to the main reason I started this space. To create. To write. To inspire. It’s draining to constantly feel bad about not posting enough. I’m working on letting go of the unrealistic expectations I often set. This space was meant to be a fun, safe place I could create with no rules but alas, there are people out there who will go out of their way to throw around hurtful words. And there’s nothing you can do but laugh at the silliness of it all. And continue creating, of course – C’est la vie:)

And now for the good stuff – here are a few snippets of the moments keeping me happy as of late:)

+ 18km of beauty leaving you in awe
+ early morning runs+ a park date with my darling (teeny, tiny) niece on an unexpected emergency trip home+ completing the victoria half marathon in 1:55! personal best – eaaa:)+ balmy autumn bike rides+ completing my first gig as Art Director on a very special project with BC Children’s Hospital + BC Women’s Hospital. Working with such passionate people who dedicate their lives to making a difference in others is beyond inspiring. The way their eyes light up while talking about their work…it’s the best:)+ YOU. each one of you who reached out to me to over the last month – thank you so much for reading along + encouraging me to keep doing what i love. Your words mean so much and your kindness inspires me on the daily.

Over Labor day Weekend I took somewhat of a spontaneous trip to the Okanagan. With no campsites available, we made lodging arrangements at a bed + breakfast airbnb on the Thursday night before. We’d find out on the Saturday that sometimes making last minute plans are the best! Our airbnb was beyond perfect + this road trip ended up being one for the books.

Wine tasting, picking fruit in a local’s backyard, meals prepared straight from the garden, a half hour trip over the border into the States just so I can be “welcomed” home, hiking trails to ourselves ending in a spectacular view, heaps + heaps of sweet smiles and laughs. Absolutely lovely. sigh…:)